One of the fastest growing areas of communications technology is related to automobile network solutions. Almost all new American cars will have some level of telematics service, and with the increasing number and variety of these services, demands on telematics service call centers have also grown.
Telematics services include, but are not limited to turn-by-turn directions and other navigation-related services provided in conjunction with the GPS based chipsets and components, airbag deployment notification and other emergency or roadside assistance-related services provided in connection with various crash and or collision sensor interface modules and sensors located throughout the vehicle. Telematics services also include “infotainment-related” services where music, Web pages, movies, television programs, videogames and/or other content is downloaded by an “infotainment center” operatively connected to the telematics unit. For example, music content may be downloaded content for current or later playback.
With such a robust range of services, the telematics unit manufacturers and telematics service providers have a need to provide such requested services efficiently and cost effectively. A geographic area may have several overlapping wireless networks that are accessible to any mobile device. These include wireless wide area networks (WWAN) (e.g. CDMA2000, WCDMA), wireless metropolitan area networks (WMAN) (e.g. WiMAX), and wireless local area networks (WLAN) (e.g. WiFi). Historically, a service provider arbitrarily downloads content onto a mobile device through one of these networks. A service provider does not analyze all the networks with the application to determine the most efficient network(s) to download the application. Further, traditionally, when a mobile device exits one mobile area and enters another mobile area, roaming and handoff scenarios ensure continued downloading of an application. However, roaming and handoff scenarios may not be the most efficient and cost effective manner to continue downloading an application in the new mobile area. In addition, while the mobile device is within a given area, the mobile network status may change (i.e. equipment outage, bandwidth constrained, etc.) requiring a service provider deliver services through an inefficient wireless network.
Therefore, there is a need for a service provider to utilize overlapping mobile networks in a given area to cost effectively and efficiently deliver telematics services to the consumer when a user requests a service, a terminal updates its location, or an access network changes its status.